A Ripple In Time
by ssmith1987
Summary: The war is over and Konoha has lost. With Naruto's blessing Kyuubi goes back in time in order to fix the future for both himself and Naruto. Unfortunately no good deed goes unpunished and this new world is rife with both challenges and possibilities.
1. Nothing to Lose

A RIPPLE IN TIME

"bla bla bla" talking

_Bla bla bla_ thinking

"**bla bla bla" **demon talking

_**Bla bla bla **_demon thinking

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The longest and most volatile battle in the history of Konohagakure no Sato was finally over, but all was far from well in the Village Hidden among Leaves. In fact, nine men were able to do what entire armies had failed to accomplish in the past, burn Konoha to the ground. Just beyond the wreckage, you could see a man in a long, black, cloak adorned with red clouds leaping through the trees carrying the limp body of a young man with spiky blond hair and three whisker-like marks across each of his cheeks. Although the boy seemed lifeless to those on the outside, Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha's number one most surprising ninja, was very much active if only in his own mind.

"SON OF A BITCH!" the blond screamed at the top of his lungs. He was currently pacing in front of a large cage at the end of what appeared to be a sewer. Inside the cage was a gigantic fox with nine tails waving violently behind him. This was the infamous nine tailed demon fox that ravaged Konoha nineteen years earlier only to be sealed inside our blond protagonist, Kyuubi no Kitsune.

"**CALM DOWN YOU BRAT" **Kyuubi roared from his cage "**You're giving me a headache"**

"CALM DOWN CALM DOWN! DID YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENED? THEY'RE ALL DEAD! THE VILLEGE IS GONE! HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM DOWN?" Naruto became more hysterical with every word. "SAKURA-CHAN, SASUKE, KAKASHI-SENSEI, IRUKA-SENSEI, ERO-SENNIN, BAA-CHAN, HINATA, KIBA, SHINO, SHIKAMARU, INO, CHOJI, ASUMA-SENSEI, LEE, NEJI, TEN-TEN, GAI-SENSEI, GAARA, TEMARI, KANKURO, DEAD! ALL DEAD!

The blond sank to his knees and grabbed his head "I…I failed them. I failed them all."

The Kyuubi sighed and leaned his head against the bars of his cage. _**Great now I have to comfort him. **_Comfort was not exactly the Kyuubi's strong suit as one can expect from a malevolent demon. However, Kyuubi has gotten into the habit of comforting the boy when he suffered from his bouts of depression for the sole reason that humans can and do take their own lives. "**Kit… I know you feel a need to protect your 'precious people' but you have to realize that all of the people you mentioned are perfectly capable of protecting themselves. I mean some of the people you mentioned were as strong or stronger then you. You shouldn't blame yourself for their deaths. Especially since most of them were killed when you were nowhere near them, you may have me inside you but all in all you're still a pathetic bald monkey." **

Naruto sighed and looked up at Kyuubi with tear-strained eyes. "I appreciate the effort Kyuubs I really do but it really isn't necessary. In a little while you are going to be extracted from me, the Akatsuki will have all the tailed beasts and the world as we know it would end. Worst of all there is nothing we can do to stop it." Naruto groaned and once again buried his head in his hands.

"**Weeeelll," **Kyuubi exclaimed **"That might not necessarily be true"**

Naruto's head shot up immediately. "What are you getting at fox?" His tone was stern and serious, almost out of character for the happy go lucky demon vessel.

"**Time travel" **Kyuubi stated

"Time travel?" Naruto asked

"**Yes well there is this technique that demons can use that allows us to go back in time but it's very risky.** **The time stream is so fragile that going into the past and killing a butterfly could cause a ripple in time that could cause the world as we know it to end." **Kyuubi explained

"The world as we know it IS about to end so what does it matter." Naruto cried. He was quickly loosing his patience with the fox. "Anyway, if we do go back in time what would we do to change things."

"**Actually, only I would go back in time. You would explode."** Kyuubi stated a little too calmly

"EXPLODE!! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN EXPLODE?" Naruto screamed. He was definitely not liking the way this conversation was going.

"**If I could do this inside you I would have made you go back in time and warn me about Madara when you first came to me 7 years ago." **Kyuubi explained

"Wait. What? Madara?" Naruto questioned

Kyuubi sighed **"Uchiha Madara helped find your village, went nuts, fought the first and second Hokages at the valley of the end and ended up running away with his tail between his legs." **Kyuubi seemed very amused as he said the last part.

"I know all that, but what does he have to do with anything?" Naruto asked

"**Well after the fight at valley of the end, he somehow managed to find his way to my den, and demanded that I give him some of my power and unfortunately instead of smashing his arrogant ass with my paw I decided to just give him what he wanted to make him go away." **Kyuubi explained

"Wait. Why the hell did you do that?" Naruto asked

"**Well my mate was in heat and I was just about to …uh… well you know and I didn't want to get my paws all bloody." **Kyuubi confessed

Naruto tried to stifle his laughter "Who would have thought that the infamous Kyuubi no Kitsine, god of the Buiji was such a pussy whipped…"

"**Finish that and you could forget about me helping you."** Kyuubi growled

"Ok I'm sorry please go on" Naruto chuckled

"**Well, I only gave him a fraction of what I normally give you so I didn't think it would be a problem. However, the son of a bitch figured out how to store it." **Kyuubi explained

"Wait. What do you mean store it?" Naruto asked

"**When demonic chakra is put into a human body it automatically burns itself up without the human even using it. However Madara managed to find some sort of stone that holds stores the demonic chakra allowing him to use it whenever he wants."** Kyuubi said

"How come that doesn't happen when you give me your chakra?" Naruto asked

Kyuubi sighed. He knew the kid was not going to take this well. **"Kit, except for the first two or so hours of your life you have never been fully human. My chakra has been mingling with yours and being absorbed by you since day one. You're a far cry from being a demon but you're not human either."**

Naruto sighed. "Yeah, the differences were subtle but I noticed them. I guess I didn't want to admit it to myself."

Trying to get Naruto's mind off the subject as quickly as possible, Kyuubi continued with his explanation. **"Anyways, somehow Madara managed to use the power to make himself immortal. Now, one of the many differences between humans and demons is that humans have an infinite amount of potential to become stronger while having a rather finite lifespan, while demons have a finite amount of power and a pretty much infinite lifespan."**

"What the hell does that mean?" Naruto asked

"**Well, each demon is born with a set amount of potential and no amount of hard work or determination would make him stronger. I was born as powerful as I am now and am going to have the same amount of power when I die. For humans its different, all humans start out the same as strength wise and grow into however strong they wish to be. Sure, some have certain advantages over others, but through hard work and determination whatever disadvantages you have could be overcome. In short, just about every human has a limitless amount of potential." **Kyuubi explained

"So if you combine infinite potential with an infinite lifespan, add in the power of the sharingan and whatever demonic chakra he had left after the immortality technique and…" Naruto reasoned out

"**It was only a matter of time before he became more powerful then even me"** Kyuubi stated

"Shit" exclaimed Naruto

"**Yeah using his new found power he was able to summon me and use those stupid eyes of his to make me attack you pathetic little village."** Kyuubi explained

"Wait a minute, so you didn't want to attack the village?" Naruto asked

"**Kit, a little thing you might want to know about demons is that we only look out for our own best interests. Why the hell would I want to attack your pathetic little village? Did you do anything to me? No. Were you a threat to my existence or the existence of those under me? No. Did any of you engage in some form of demonic bestiality with my mate? No. I had absolutely nothing to gain by attacking your village and everything to lose. In fact, I did lose everything!"** Kyuubi roared

"But you always talk about how if you were to get out you would burn, Konoha to the ground while killing, raping, and disemboweling everyone in it... especially me!" Naruto declared. This little revelation by the Kyuubi was beginning to confuse him.

"**Well yeah, now that they sealed me inside of you, essentially handing my over a death sentence, making me look like an idiot, and leaving my own kind without a leader and vulnerable to attack."** Kyuubi stated

"But they were only looking out for their own best interests. Isn't it hypocritical for you to damn them for something that you do yourself? Naruto asked

"**Kit I'm a demon. Hypocrisy is one of my favorable traits."** Kyuubi stated

Naruto sighed "So how do I know that if I agree to this you won't just go attack Konoha anyway for vengeance and find away to destroy it without getting caught by the Yondaime's jutsu?"

"**I guess you will never know for sure but if my word means anything I promise that if we do this that I have no intensions of attacking your village again. I would have no reason to. Nobody else would know that the past 19 years ever happened, I'd regain everything I lost being sealed inside you and my mate would probably be going into heat later that week so its safe to say that it wouldn't be in my best interests."** Kyuubi reasoned

"That sounds good but how am I going to bring back Sasuke, and defeat the Akatsuki without your help?" Naruto asked

"**Well you don't have to look out for the Akatsuki because Madara was the one who started it; also I doubt you have to worry about Sasuke either. During the night of the massacre I was able to feel the presence of Madara coming from the area around the Uchiha compound so chances are he had something to do with it."** Kyuubi stated

"Wow, the Uchiha massacre, the Akatsuki, you attacking the village, its hard to believe that one man could do so much damage. It seems like the world would truly be a better place without him." Naruto stated morosely

"**It may seem that way now but it might not be true. All those events killed a lot of people. Although you humans usually think of that as a bad thing, all and all it might not be. Not all of the people that he killed were saints. There is a chance that some of them would do more damage than he did or have kids that grew up to do so. When messing with the space-time continuum these are things we must take into account."** Kyuubi said

"If things could turn out so horribly then why are we even thinking of doing this; especially if by doing so I have to explode?" said Naruto

"**Because you have nothing left. All the people you loved and cared for are dead, the village you grew up in has burned to the ground and as soon as we get to the hideout and Akatsuki extracts me from you your going to be killed. Kit you have nothing." **Kyuubi reiterated

"Thanks for the reminder Kyuubs" Naruto stated sarcastically

"**The thing is when you have nothing, you have nothing to lose. Oh, and don't worry about the explosion thing. It would happen so fast you won't feel a thing. Just rip the seal off my cage and I'll take care of the rest" **Kyuubi said

"Alright then let's do this" Naruto exclaimed as he ripped the seal off of Kyuubi's cage. Kyuubi was right. Naruto didn't feel a thing as his body exploded into a large wave of chakra.


	2. The Sweetest Joy

Uchiha Madara was running as fast as he could through the unfamiliar landscape. His surroundings were bleak to say the least. The ground was covered in ash and the closest things to plant life were a few burned-out trees and some thorny bushes. He could hear the sounds of boiling hot lava bubbling in the distance. However, Madara's mind was far away from the desolate landscape before him but still in his home village of Konoha. With all that happened to him during the past couple days, the fight with his best friend and comrade, killing his younger brother and fleeing his home; _she_ was still the only thing he could think about.

"Aimi" he whispered to himself "Aimi you filthy whore."

To say Aimi was beautiful would be the greatest understatement in history. Aimi was beyond beauty. Aimi was a goddess in the flesh. Aimi was the epitome of physical perfection. Her long, smooth, raven black hair acted as a prism which allowed sunlight to shine in techno-color glory when it hit her silky locks in just the right spot. Her skin was a soft, creamy, ivory in color, unblemished, and as smooth as silk. She had full, perky, bosom a slim waist and a firm round butt. Her legs were long and elegant and she moved with the kind of catlike grace that most dancers envied. Uchiha Aimi was by far the most gorgeous woman on the face of the planet. However, she was also his brother's wife.

Although Madara and his brother Jiro were always heated rivals, Aimi was the catalyst that brought their rivalry to a whole new level. Before it was a friendly rivalry, a way for the two to become stronger, but once Aimi came into the picture, any remnants of chivalry between the two were blasted away. Madara dedicated all of his time to finding ways to best his younger brother. When Jiro killed his best friend and activated the Mangekyou Sharingan, Madara killed his best friend and activated the Mangekyou Sharingan, when Jiro learned a new jutsu Madara learned a new, more powerful jutsu, when Jiro found an effective new training method, Madara wouldn't rest until he found an even more effective trianig method. When the final battle between the two came, Madara won.

However, even though he won the battle he lost the war. Aimi fell in love with Jiro when she was treating his wounds at the hospital. They were married within the year. Needless to say, Madara was livid, but he knew better than to just rush into things. Good ninjas wait and strike when least expected. So that is just what he did. Madara waited almost 5 years before enacting revenge on his brother, conserving his energy and waiting for just the right moment. By the time Madara put his plan into action, Jiro was almost blind from overuse of the Mangekyou Sharingan._ Killing him was almost disappointingly easy._ Thought Madara

Madara was secretly hoping that when Madara finally killed his brother, Aimi would see the error of her ways and be with him. After all why wouldn't she, he was the strongest brother. Hell, he was probably the strongest man in the village other than the Hokage. Isn't that what women want in a man, power, strength, an alpha male? Why would she want to be with that weakling when she could have him? But no when she had found that he killed Jiro she started screaming and rambling on about going to the authorities. If he did not knock her out he would have never made it out of the village.

"Psh what does that whore know about anything?" he said to himself. It was partially because of her that he was forced out of the village, and given a humiliating defeat by his former friend and colleague. But that's okay, he was right outside the lair of the infamous Kyuubi no Kitsine, if everything worked out according to plain he was about to gain more power then he could ever imagine. He would get his final revenge on Aimi, Jiro, and Konoha soon enough. All he had to do is wait for just the right moment and strike when they least expect it.

_"_Revenge truly is the sweetest joy."Madara whispered to himself menacingly

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Meanwhile, back in Konoha, the first Hokage was staring at the sleeping form of his younger brother. Just then, a familiar looking medic-nin entered the room. "Aimi you really shouldn't be working right now. Why don't you go home, rest, and be with your family. I'm sure they need you." The first said to her

"The boys are staying with friends of mine until I'm able to clean the blood out of the house. This is a welcome break from doing that." Aimi replied

"I'll send a genin team to clean up the blood. Go be with your family." The first said

Aimi shook her head "If I just sit around the house all day I'll go crazy. Besides, I can let the kids see me like this." Madara really did a number on her when he "knocked her out." The right side of her face was covered in a hideous purple and brown bruise that grossly contrasted the rest of her ivory skin. Her upper lip was busted open and was currently being held together by a couple of stitches. Her right eye was practically swollen shut and there were various other bruises and cuts along her body.

The Hokage sighed "You can continue to work at the hospital but when you're shift is up I want you to go see your children. They need to right now; no matter what you look like. Don't worry about the house I'll have a genin team on it in the morning."

Aimi nodded. "I would also like to see all information regarding the Mangekyou Sharingan destroyed. If Jiro didn't overuse it then he might have been able to defend himself against Madara's attacks. He felt so guilty after killing Makoto that he dedicated himself to use the Mangekyou Sharingan in order to protect the leaf. I think he saw the blindness as punishment for his actions."

The Hokage sighed "Makoto was going to sell crucial information to our enemies and attacked the team who was sent to take him into custody. Jiro had no reason to punish himself. However, I understand that men don't always act out of reason and the Mangekyou Sharingan is a very dangerous technique not just because of its consequences but because of its power and how it attained. I will make a law forbidding people to speak of the Mangekyou Sharingan and have all written information on it destroyed except for a footnote on it in the Scroll of Sealing just in case. With any luck almost all information regarding the Mangekyou Sharingan would die out in one generation."

Aimi bowed "Thank you Hokage-sama."

As she turned to leave, the Hokage said "You know he really did love you in his own way. That's what he did all this."

Aimi snap turn around and sneared "That wasn't love; that was obsession. All the time those two were fighting never did they asked me my feelings; never did they want my opinions. To those two I was a reward for their little pissing contest. When Jiro lost their 'final battle' he said that he wanted me to be happy even though it wasn't with him. Madara never cared about my happiness. To him I was just some prize that Jiro stole from him."

_I should have just kept my big mouth shut _he thought to himself immediately sorry that he chose to defend his former friend and comrade. Fortunately for him, his brother groaned saving him from spending any more time on the wrong side of Aimi's patented 'glare of death.'

"I'll leave you two alone" she said quietly as she bowed and took her leave.

Aimi walked down the hallway when she heard the familiar cry of "Mommy" and saw her eldest son run towards her and hug her legs.

She also saw her longtime friend Aneko Hyuuga running up towards her with a baby and a toddler in her arms "I'm so sorry Aimi, but Kohana nearly choked on something and I had to take her to the hospital and Kazuki somehow manage to get away from me and…"

Aimi put her hand up and stopped her friend "It's okay Aneko, I was going to come over tonight and get them anyway. You were right. These are the kind of times that families need to stick together."

Kazuki looked up at his mother and said "mommy, mommy I had just got the greatest idea."

Aimi smiled at her son "What is it baby?"

"Well" he started "you know how you said that ninja's protect the village from people who come to hurt us? Well maybe there could be a group of ninja's that stop people inside the village from hurting each other. That way no other family has to be all sad. What do you think?"

Aimi smiled "You mean like a police force? I think that's a great idea Kazuki, but it would take a very strong ninja to start something like that? You think you'll be able to handle it?"

"Of course I'm going to be one of the strongest ninja around just like daddy was!" he exclaimed jumping up and down.

"Well, my shift is almost over and I don't think anyone would mind if I cut out a little early today. Do you mind if we stay at the Hyuuga compound until our house is cleaned up Aneko?" Aimi asked

"Of course not, my home is your home. And if there's anything else I could do for you in your time of need just ask. Now come on lets go home" Aneko replied. _Hmm a Konoha police force, that's not a bad idea. Maybe there is hope for the Uchiha clan after all._ _Children truly are the sweetest joy. _She thought to herself while patting her ever-growing stomach

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Meanwhile, the Hokage's brother was just fully regaining consciousness. "Hashirama? Wha-what happened? How long was I out?" He questioned

"You were only out for a couple of days Mizu. Madara got away but I don't see him coming back to Konoha anytime in the near future. For the time being I want you to go on a year long training and diplomatic mission to the Whirlpool village." The Hokage replied.

"Huh? Wait why? What about my team?" Mizu was confused he had a genin team to teach and a lot of other responsibilities in Konoha. Why would his brother want to send him away now of all time.

"Because the alliance with the Whirlpool village is essential to the survival of this village and I can't trust anyone else with this mission. Also Whirlpool ninja's are the best around when it comes to water jutsu. I would like to pass on the title of Hokage to you when I am ready to retire, so it would be good for you to tighten up your skills in order to keep Kohona safer. Don't worry about your team I will train them when you are gone. Genin usually don't leave the village anyway so it wouldn't be a problem." The Hokage explained

"Alright I understand so when do I leave?" Mizu asked

"Well the medic-nins said you need about 3 weeks of recovery and you should probably have a little time to get your affairs in order so you leave 4 weeks from today." The Hokage stated

"Sounds good" Mizu yawned "So how are you holding up? I know both Madara and Jiro were good friends of yours and with me leaving in a few weeks I'm afraid you won't have anyone to help you if you break. Are you going to be ok Hashirama?"

"Don't worry about me. Honestly, I've sort of seen this coming for a while but I just didn't want to think it could happen. I also have my wife to fall back on if I do break." Hashirama stated.

"I guess your right." Mizu said. He was going to say more but at that moment a medic-nin came in.

"I'm going to give you a shot to help you sleep ok." She said to Mizu

Knowing that his brother was going to be unconscious by the time the medic left, he turned around and looked out the window of the hospital room. As he looked passed his humble fledgling village and into the distance he couldn't help but wonder about his former friend and comrade. _Madara where are you? What are you planning? For the love of all that is holy please don't get yourself into too much trouble._

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Meanwhile, Madara was hanging upside down by one of his legs screaming in pain as the cold eyes of the Kyuubi watched on very much amused by his plight. Kyuubi was holding him by his ankles with one of his tails. The Kyuubi's chakra has already burned through most of his flesh leaving nothing but the bone which was going fast.

"PLEASE, I'D DO WHATEVER YOU WANT! HAVE MERCY!" Madara screamed in both pain and terror

"**I've had mercy once. It was unpleasantly gooey kind of like oh I don't know, THINGS THAT I SMASHED TO DEATH WITH MY GIANT FURY PAW!!" **Kyuubi replied picking up his paw and staring at it for extra effect**.**

"PLEASE, PLEASE LET ME GO" Madara cried out in desperation

"**Well I guess I could." **Kyuubi stated as he gently let Madara down** "There you go just don't come around here again or your finished." **

"Thank you, Thank you, don't worry you won't see me again I promise." Madara vowed with relief. And he meant it too. He could find another way to find power and get his vengeance as long as he was alive. However, just as Madara started to limp away to nurse his wounds and think of a back up plan…

**SMASH **

Kyuubi crushed Madara's pathetic form with one of his giant fury paws. **"He he he I love it when they get that false hope. It makes killing them so much sweeter. Hey you two" **Kyuubi addressed two of his servants **"clean up that mess and make sure no one bothers me for the next couple of decades."**

"**Yes sir!" **the servants responded in unison. The two foxes were both about the size of a station wagon and had two tails. They were both red with white stomachs and feet. They would have been cute if it wasn't for their size.

"**That's weird" **one of the fox servants said to the other **"He's usually in a good mood when he knows he's about get some. I thought that the human might have had a shot."**

"**Good mood or no that human was pushing it." **The other responded while he was pushing the remains into a near by lava pit. **"In fact, his good mood was probably the reason this human's death was so quick." **

Kyuubi was very pleased with himself. He finally got his revenge on Madara. Sure it wasn't the long, slow, agonizing torture that he had been fanaticizing about for 19 years but he had better things to do… like his mate. **_Vengeance truly is the sweetest joy_** he thought to himself until he heard **"Kyuubi-kuuuuun I need you NOOOOOOW" **

**_Ok except for that, that is truly the sweetest joy but vengeance is a close second._** He thought chuckling

* * *

Just in case you were wondering here are the meanings of some of the names used in this chapter and why I used them.

Aimi means Beautiful Love  
I used this name for two reasons. First one was the obvious fact that she was incredibly beautiful and two guys were vying for her affection. The second less obvious reason was an attempt at irony seeing that Madara's love for Aimi was not at all beautiful but a hideous obsession.

Jiro means Second Son  
I used this name because the only purpose Jiro served in this story is the fact that he was Madara's little brother and rival and needed to die so Madara could get his eyes.

Aneko means Older Sister  
Aneko is the name I used for the women who looked after Aimi's kids while in the hospital. I used the name Aneko for her because I picture her as someone who play's a big sister role to Aimi, you know looking after her kids, giving her advise and all in all taking care of her.

Mizu means Water  
I named the second Hokage Mizu because he was supposed to have specialized in water jutsu. If his true name ever comes out I'd probably change it to whatever Kishi decides to call him.

Makoto means Sincere, Honest  
Makoto was the guy Jiro killed for leaking secrets to Konoha's enemies. Again this is another one of my feeble attempts at irony because that is not very sincere nor really honest seeing that he vowed to be a ninja loyal ninja of Konoha.

Kazuki means Radiant Hope  
Kazuki was the son of Jiro and the one who first thought of the Konoha Police Force I used this name for him because as Aneko said he provided hope for the Uchiha clan. He instead of growing embittered and obsessed with vengeance (like some other Uchiha) he worked to create a police force in Konoha to make sure no body else had to suffer what he went through. If it wasn't for the fact that everyone seems to hate OC's and that I really wanted to get on with the story I probably would have expanded a lot on his character.


	3. Loving and Loathing

In a cramped, dark, boardroom several dark silhouettes sat around a long oak table. An older, one armed man covered in bandages stood up and spoke. "The kindhearted ways of the previous Hokages, all under the thumb of the Whirlpool, will no longer weaken the ninja of Konoha. With the fall of the third, a new dawn will come in the world of ninja. However, there is one thing standing in our way." he stated. Standing next to him was a man with long black hair that contrasted his sickly white skin and bright yellow eyes.

"I am afraid that Sarutobi-sensei has discovered my secret laboratories hidden throughout Konoha and will thus be unwilling to name me his successor. In fact, I have it in good authority that the Third is now considering Minato Namikaze for Hokage." explained the yellow eyed man

The boardroom erupted in a barrage of gasps and whispers until someone cried out "Not the Whirlpool nin!"

Fortunately I do have one more trick up my sleeve." The yellow eyed man declared, ignoring the fuss that occurred seconds earlier.

"Well what is it?" asked one of the board members

"Along with developing the cursed seal, during my research I have discovered a way to both summon and kill the Kyuubi." he announced. The boardroom erupted in gasps and whispers. The bandaged man slammed his hand against the table silencing the group.

"Thank you, Danzo" the yellow eyed man continued "Although, we can't summon the Kyuubi's body, using a seal and jutsu that I developed we will be able to summon its chakra and his consciousness. Once summoned he would be stirred up into a frenzy and attack everything in sight. Once the Hokage is killed I will come in with a sword that I made from a gemstone that absorbs demonic chakra, and slay the beast. Since I killed the beast that attacked Konoha I would be seen as a hero and the village will have no choice but to name me Hokage."

Danzo spoke up "With Orochimaru as Hokage we will put the cursed seal on every ninja in Konoha as well as develop a training program similar to my root ANBU program for every ninja. Our ninja will be loyal and elite, devoid of all the pesky emotions that just get in the way and able to focus solely on missions." He then pulled out a map of the surrounding area and put it down on the table. "However, we all must work together for the summoning to be a success. It will probably be at least a couple of years before we will be ready to summon and we all must work together. Not only must we all be present to summon the beast we also need to find an area to do so."

Orochimaru grinned and pointed to a spot on the map "I think this spot would be perfect. Not only would it be well hidden from prying eyes but it would probably take care of our little Whirlpool problem once and for all." All the boardroom members grinned and nodded in agreement.

The group continued plotting unaware of the small black fox watching them from a nearby window. **_I've got to relay this information to Kyuubi-sama_** she thought to herself and was off in a flash in the night.

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Meanwhile in Konoha, Uzumaki Kushina was dragging herself home from her ANBU test. When she finally reached her house she was just about to put the key in the lock when her fiancé opened the door and gave her his trade mark grin.

"Congratulations" he said as he grinned at her. She groaned and fell into his arms. He picked her up bridal style and carried her to the couch where he sat her down gently and continued making dinner. "You know you didn't have to walk home I could have come and picked you up."

"I prefer to keep my dignity thank you very much." She replied "Now if you don't mind Minato, I'm a mess and have to take a bath." As she was getting up her knees went out and she fell back on to the couch.

"Wait a minute" Minato called out as he put the lid back on a pan and ran back into the living room. "You're so stubborn sometimes you know that?" He said as he picked her up and carried her to their bedroom.

"Your one to talk" she replied as he carefully set her down on their bed. He just flashed her one of his smiles, walked into their bathroom and started running the bath.

"Do you want me to help you with your clothes?" he asked

"You'd like that wouldn't you." She said as she glared at him

"Oh yes, very much so." He said with a huge grin

Kushina reached into her pocket, brought out a soldier pill and swallowed it. Feeling a rush of energy fill her she smirked. "I think I can take it from here." She said as got up, walked into the bathroom and closed the door.

Minato sighed. "Tease" he said to himself as he pulled out Kushina's pajamas from her dresser, laid them out on the bed and went to the kitchen to continue making dinner.

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Currently, the quick little black fox was standing in front of a silently fuming Kyuubi.

**_SON OF A BITCH! After all that fucking work I'm right back where I fucking started. It's a good thing I sent troops to keep an eye on Kohona or I would have been even more screwed. Well I have to think of a plan because I am NOT spending another 19 years inside that little brat. Now come on Kyuubi how the hell are you going to get yourself out of this one. _**

Suddenly in the corner of his eye he saw something sparkle. He turned his head and saw a fist sized white stone in the corner of the room. **_Bingo _**Kyuubi thought as he grinned like a Cheshire cat. **"Amaya go get the rest of the Klan and meet me in the meeting room." **Kyuubi ordered

"**Yes Kyuubi-sama" **Amaya replied and quickly left the room. As the small black fox hopped out of the room Kyuubi turned to the corner, picked up the fist size gem and pondered his current situation.

**_Hmm it must have been the mind-body duality of the summoning that gave me the out of body feeling that I falsely attributed to the Sharingan which led me to believe that Madara was responsible. Well Madara it seems that you were innocent of the crime that I have sentenced you to death for. _**Kyuubi shrugged **"Oh well, he was still a major pain in my ass" **he said to nobody in particular as he turned and made his way to the meeting room.

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Kushina walked out of the bathroom towel drying her hair. As she walked into the living room she could see her fiancé cooking diligently over the half wall separating the living room and the kitchen. She smiled and pulled out their small "dining table" which was really just a large footstool they found at a garage sale. She took two of the pillows off the couch, dropped then on each side of the table and plopped herself down on one them. She sighed as she closed her eyes and leaned against the wall.

Minato stopped what he was doing in the kitchen and stared at his fiancé for a while. She was wearing dark blue sweatpants and tank top that accentuated her slim but still clearly feminine figure. Her long, damp, red hair was gracefully draped around her delicate features. Minato couldn't believe how lucky he was to have this woman. He watched her open her beautiful hazel eyes and look at him just to sigh and close them again. "Don't look at me like that." She suddenly said

Minato blinked twice "Look at you like what?" he asked

"Like you want to fuck me into oblivion" she replied

Minato chuckled, walked over and wrapped his arms around her. "Is it my fault that you are so irresistible?" he said as he peppered her face with kisses

She laughed and tried to squirm away "Stop it, I spent a month in the forest of death fending off random attack from various ANBU members, I'm way too tired for that. I'm probably going to pass out as soon as the soldier pill wears off."

Minato got up and returned to the kitchen. "You wouldn't be so tired if you let me come and pick you up." He said over his shoulder.

"Yeah, that's just what I need when I'm finally gaining some respect as a Konoha ninja, everyone and his mother seeing me be carted around by my fiancé." Kushina sneered

"You could have a least signed a waver allowing the Hokage to tell me when the exam was over and whether or not you passed." He pouted and crossed his arms "and you don't have to worry about everyone seeing my carry you. I would have got you home in a flash." He finished with a smirk

"You just love to show off that jutsu of yours don't you?" Kushina replied

"Well yes very much so" Minato replied with a grin as he brought dinner over.

Kushina sighed and rolled her eyes as she reached for a plate "It wouldn't have been so bad if the neighborhood was so far away from everything"

Minato frowned for a second but quickly recovered and gave his fiancé an over the top smile "Well I know the whirlpool district is a bit… distant but look on the bright side, the long distance helps training speed and endurance and I would have never thought to have invented my special jutsu if I wasn't constantly concerned about being late." Minato replied

Kohona's whirlpool district was a large rather poor neighborhood located far away from the sprawling mansions of Konoha's noble clans as well as the Hokage tower, the ninja academy, the training fields and all other shinobi facilities. In fact most shops, bath houses, and other "local" businesses seemed to avoid the neighborhood like the plague forcing those who lived in the neighborhood to walk several blocks to buy food and other items. It was almost as if there was an invisible line separating the neighborhood from the rest of Konoha. Although they currently lived in the nicest house in the whirlpool district it was not on par with the houses that most of his peers lived in.

In fact, Minato would probably have moved by now if it wasn't for two reasons. The first reason is that he felt that by moving he would be almost betraying the neighborhood that he grew up as well as his fellow "whirlpool nins." Minato's parents and grandparents settled in the whirlpool district during the first migration to Konoha. It all started when a strange disease decimated the fish population in near the whirlpool village. Seeing that fish were the main form of food for most of the villagers the Uzumaki clan arranged for a set amount of families to emigrate to Konoha to avoid starving to death. Minato's family managed to win the lottery and settled in Konoha's whirlpool district where he was born and raised. The second reason the he decided to stay in the neighborhood is that he knew that his fiancé would be more comfortable there. Kushina left the whirlpool village only after it was destroyed by the Rock Village and was not yet used to the different culture and location. Kushina was still very uncomfortable conversing with people outside of the neighborhood and would often come across as reserved or shy to others which was actually the exact opposite of her true personality.

Part of the problem would be the fact that most of the population of Konoha wasn't very welcoming of the Whirlpool refugees. Being a ninja village and all, when the first wave of immigrants came to Konoha many people believed that they were spies sent to destroy the village from within. Once it became apparent that the Whirlpool nationals were in fact not spies but were going to actually live in Konoha, cultural differences had now become the new fodder for those who took an anti-whirlpool stance. For example, in the Whirlpool village all people were seen on pretty much equal footing. Although they still sent all ninjas 12-15 to participate in the Chunin exams for diplomatic purposes, there were no ranks among the ninja population as it was viewed that a ninja's skill would speak for itself. When the leader of the village dies or retires all those who want the position show off their skills in a tournament and village votes for their next leader. And although a member of the Uzumaki clan was almost always the victor, anyone who wanted to was allowed to participate and everyone had a vote in the election. Because of this "Whirlpool nins" rarely use honorifics and treat their superiors in the same as they would treat their friends. This result's in "Whirlpool nins" were thought to be rude, disrespectful, or that they have problems with authority when in truth they just don't understand or place much value in titles.

Another problem would be that many people didn't agree with the way the Whirlpool village itself was run and used this to bring home the fact that "Whirlpool nins" are not fit to be Konoha ninja. The Whirlpool village was a very peaceful one and had very strict rules when it came to what missions were acceptable, and how ninja were to conduct themselves on missions. Probably the most controversial rule would involve killing and assassinations which was "No women, no children, no exceptions." This rule was controversial both in and outside of the Whirlpool village. Kushina thought that this rule was sexist and that it implied that female ninja's were less of a threat then their male counterparts and that they needed to be treated with kids gloves. Many kunoichi agreed with this assessment of the rule but there were others who disagreed with this rule for other reasons. Some thought that if one had to worry about the age or gender of the person attacking you could waste valuable time and could put ones team in danger. Some thought that being so picky about who you kill would make it hard for villages to gain missions. This theory seemed to hold little water because when it was around, the Whirlpool village got more missions then any other which is one of the reasons they could be so picky about what missions they did and did not accept. You wouldn't be the hero you want to be if you hire a ninja to take out a corrupt leader and said ninja blows up an orphanage in order to take him out. Partially because of the strict rules regarding killing, Whirlpool ninja's were masters of non-lethal takedown and often sent missing ninjas back to their respective villages alive which resulted in a larger bounty. For these reasons the Whirlpool village was actually one of the most economically prosperous villages in its time. However that didn't stop many people from believing that the peaceful, almost pacifistic (by ninja standards), ways of the Whirlpool nins were a scourge on Konoha, that they were impeding on the cultural integrity of Konoha and needed to eliminated. It was these people that tried to keep him from becoming a ninja; it was these people that were impeding on Kushina's progress as a Konoha ninja and it was these people he had to win somehow win over.

Minato was brought out of his musings by Kushina's voice. "Yeesh you're a terminal optimist Minato you know that?" Kushina replied "You could be having your teeth kicked in by a Konoha nationalist and lay their thinking 'Well it's good that people have such strong devotion to their village'"

Minato pouted "Hmph theirs nothing wrong with being optimistic." He said as he grabbed both of their plates and stomped off into the kitchen slammed the plates into the sink and stomped off into the bedroom.

_Great now I upset him _Kushina thought after watching this miniature temper tantrum. She followed him to the bedroom and stood in the doorway and watched as he ripped off his shirt, kicked of his pants and struggled into his pajama pants while still trying to look angry. Then he flopped on the bed, crossed his arms and continued to sulk. It was amazing how child like he could be when he was upset; although her mother always told her "never underestimated a man's capability to act like a child." Kushina knew him well enough to know he wasn't really angry. She only saw him truly angry once when some guy pushed her down and started to grope at her at a party; they were lucky that the guy agreed not to press charges after he awoke from his coma. No this was one of his hissy fits that he had when he was feeling upset or otherwise depressed and didn't want to show it.

"I'm sorry I upset you" she said as she walked over, lay down next to her fiancé and put her arms around him.

"hmph things were hard for me too" he huphed out

"I know sweetie and you know that I love how you are always the one to make the best of a bad situation and that you never give up on those around you." She told him

"You mean it?" He asked in response

"Of course I do. Its one of the things that made me fall for you. Well that and you have a really cute butt." Kushina replied. This earned her a chuckle from Minato. "So you're not really mad at me?" she asked

"You already know I'm not." He replied.

Kushina smiled, gave him a small squeeze, and rested her head on his chest. The soldier pill she took earlier was starting to wear off and a wave of exhaustion had just washed over her. Suddenly her hazy mind remembered something. "How did you know to congratulate me when I walked through the door if I didn't sign the waver allowing the Hokage to tell you I passed?"

"Well of course I knew you passed. You're better then most of the ANBU captains never mind the recruits. You're one of the best ninja I know; anyone who would doubt your capabilities as an ANBU must have taken one too many hits to the head." Minato replied

Kushina smiled weakly and thanked the gods that she was able to find a man who appreciated her skills as a ninja and didn't just want to hook up with her because he found her attractive or want her to quit her job and start popping out his babies right away. No Minato seemed to be really supportive of her decision to become a Konoha shinobi and is willing to wait until she is ready before having kids, seeing that it's pretty much a career killer for kunoichi. "I love my big ball of sunshine" Kushina said softly.

"And I love my beautiful little princess" Minato replied. However, Kushina was already asleep. Minato lay there for a couple of minutes and watched his fiancé's chest rise and fall with her breathing before making a clone and having it drape the comforter that was laying at the foot of their bed over the two of them before drifting off to sleep himself.

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Meanwhile inside the spacious cavern that was known as "the meeting room," thousands of foxes sat and waited for the Kyuubi. These foxed ranged in size from as small as a kitten to as large as a mountain and came in a variety of colors. All were discussing what it could be that led them to be called here for the first time in hundreds of years. Suddenly, Kyuubi stepped in and just like that the room went silent. The Kyuubi cleared his throat and begun to address the assembly.

"**Brothers and sisters of the Kitsine Klan, I have gathered you all here because I have just heard some very important and frankly quit disturbing news." **Kyuubi stated **"A group of mortals from Konoha are going to make an attempt on my life for political gain." **

Gasps and whispers erupted from the group, wasting valuable time and annoying Kyuubi to no end. **"SILENCE!" **Kyuubi bellowed effectively silencing the assembly. **"I don't believe that they are an actual threat to my life but we are living in the age of jinchuuriki and I can't risk being sealed. Fortunately, I have a plan but I need a rock similar to this one" **Kyuubi held out the rock he took from Madara with one of his tails **"but it has to be much, much, bigger. Has anyone seen a rock that fits that description?" **

A white, three tailed, fox that was about the size of a small mountain spoke up **"I…I think I saw a rock like that on the border of Earth country." **Kyuubi smiled. Keitaro was the best man for this job. He was strong enough to carry the stone, loyal enough to be trusted for such a mission and skilled enough to get it without being seen. **_Well I guess the gods aren't willing to completely screw me over _**Kyuubi thought to himself. "**Keitaro I want to you go to the Border of Earth country and get me that rock. Oh, and make sure you keep yourself hidden: we can't have any of the humans finding out we know about this plan or else it could all be for nothing." **Keitaro nodded his head and vanished from sight.

* * *

Kietaro Blessed  
I used this name for the fox that was to bring Kyuubi the stone because he was blessed with the skills that made him perfect for the mission that he received. What skills are those you ask? Well you'll find out in the next chapter of course.

Amaya Night rain  
I used this name for the fox that spied on the council that was trying to kill Kyuubi because I picture her as a small black fox that only works at night to gather information. That and I think Amaya is a totally kick ass name and I had to use it at some point in the story.


	4. A Very Important Mission

Minato was leaping through the trees at light speed after just having left his feuding squad behind. He was currently on what could be the most important mission of his shinobi career but he wasn't thinking of the mission. Whether he liked it or not his mind was replaying the events that took place earlier that day in the Hokage's office.

(Flashback)

Minato was kind of perturbed when he walked into the Hokage's office. Kushina had only got back from her ANBU test a couple of days ago and he still had to take care of her. Normally, the family members of ninja who come home from that test get a week off too take care of said member. However, since this was wartime, Minato was given less then two days to care for her before he was dragged into the Hokage's office for another mission. Fortunately for him, he had some friends in the neighborhood that were willing to look after Kushina for a while. Of course, he did his best to hide his frustration from the village leader. "Reporting for duty Hokage-sama." Minato stated in an official tone.

The Hokage was currently standing with his back to Minato, looking out of one of the large windows in his office. "Please have a seat." He said motioning to one of the chairs in front of his desk as he turned and sat down himself.

"Um…okay" Minato replied as he sat down.

"How's Kushina doing?" The Hokage asked

"She's still suffering from chakra exhaustion but she's getting better. I have some friends looking after her now." Minato replied

"That's good to know. When are you two going to finally tie the knot?" The Hokage asked

"We are going to start planning the wedding as soon as the war is over, but honestly, Kushina and I would like a spring wedding." Minato answered

"Well then we should make sure we end this war quickly. Isn't that right?" the Hokage said with a smirk.

Minato nodded, He was somewhat confused at this point. The Hokage usually just handed him a mission scroll and told him to get going; it was unusual for him to ask Minato to sit and chat especially during wartime. "What is this about Hokage-sama?" Minato asked

The Hokage sighed. "As you already know Kakashi has recently been promoted to jounin." He stated.

"Yes we're all really proud of him but I don't see what that has to do with anything." Minato replied.

"Well you see Kakashi is a very skilled ninja, I wouldn't have promoted him if I didn't think so, but he doesn't seem to work very well with others. I am afraid that he learned the wrong lesson from his father's death." The Hokage said

"I didn't know that there was a right lesson from Sakumo's death." Minato responded.

Like most "Whirlpool nins," Minato was not pleased with the treatment of Konoha's White Fang. Most "Whirlpool nins" either applauded or at least understood Sakumo's decision to save his comrades, and tried to make it clear that he would always be welcome in Whirlpool district. Unfortunately, their support did more to disgrace him then help him. After being labeled as a Whirlpool apologist and further scorned by his own friends and neighbors, Sakumo later committed suicide in an attempt to regain his families honor. Although he was successful in salvaging his families honor among the Konoha elite, those in the Whirlpool District most often saw it as an act of cowardice and selfishness. "Whirlpool nins" thought that the only way one could gain honor in death is if they die protecting someone or something. In the eyes of Konoha's Whirlpool population, the only thing that Sakumo achieved by taking his own life was leaving his wife without a husband, his son without a father and his village with one less talented ninja. It might have been this outrage from the Whirlpool community that fully salvaged Sakumo's honor among the rest of Konoha.

Minato saw things differently then most of the people in his neighborhood. To Minato, Sakumo's death was the fault of the people of Konoha. That by ignoring or insulting Sakumo and his family and refusing to forgive him for his grievance or give him the chance to redeem himself, the Konoha public gave the man no choice but to kill himself and are therefore responsible for his death.

The Hokage sighed. Hokage knew how Minato felt about Sakumo's death; it was one of the reasons he put Kakashi under the man's care, but right now wasn't the right time to be debating the validity of the Konoha people's response to Sakumo's decision to rescue his comrades.

"You're right about that, there is no right lesson from Sakumo's death. However, Kakashi now seems to think that he shouldn't put any worth in his comrades. If anything he considers his teammates nothing more then excess baggage or obstacles between him and the mission. This is not a good attitude for a team leader." The Hokage stated

"Well then it's a good thing that I am team leader then." Minato said with a smirk. Minato was just joking with the Hokage of course. He knew that as a jounin Kakashi would most likely be transferred to another team or something. Jounin's are meant to be commanders. Those who don't lead teams usually work in some specialized field such as interrogations, medicine, or reconnaissance. "But seriously, if that is the case why did you promote him at all?"

The Hokage sighed. "I promoted Kakashi because we need somebody to take over team Minato." He stated calmly.

"Wait a minute. What?" Minato asked. He was beginning to panic. Why would the Hokage need someone to take over his team? Did the council finally get their way and have it deemed that "Whirlpool nins" weren't fit to be Konoha ninja? Did he do something wrong? Was the old man turning his back on him?

The Hokage got up from his seat and returned to his post at the window. "I'm not as young as I used to be Minato." The Hokage said absentmindedly. "I can't go on doing this forever."

"Oh come on, Hokage-sama you're not that old, and I'm sure you'd be able to do this well into your 70s." Minato responded somewhat confused as to why he was now comforting the Hokage about his geriatric status when his job might be in jeopardy but that was just the kind of guy he was.

"Regardless of that, I think its time for the village to turn over a new leaf so to speak." The Hokage said

"What are you saying Hokage-sama?" Minato responded. He was now more confused then ever. _It sounds like Sarutobi is retiring but why would he be telling me? Shouldn't he tell this to the council or the Daimyo or… _Minato's eyes suddenly widened _NO FUCKING WAY!! _

"Minato Namikaze I would like you to become Konoha's next Hokage" Sarutobi declared

"Wha-Wha-What?" Minato managed to sputter out. He was starting to feel lightheaded. _Take deep breaths Minato, deep breaths._

"I want you to become Konoha's Forth Hokage." Sarutobi repeated

"But but the council" Minato stammered

"I have spoken to the council. They are … not pleased but they'd get over it." Sarutobi replied

Although he was overall pleased with this arrangement there was one thing Minato had to ask. "Do you really think that the people of Konoha are ready for a Whirlpool nin to-"

"You are NOT a Whirlpool nin!" Sarutobi snapped "Yes your parents and grandparents were Whirlpool nationals, but YOU were born and raised in Konoha, dedicated your most life as a shinobi of Konoha, and only saw Whirlpool once under orders of Konoha. You are just as much a citizen of Konoha as I am. You know the Hyuuga clan is said to originate somewhere in Lightning country. Does that make them Kumo nins? NO!"

"I…I'm sorry I…" Minato began to stammer again. The Third Hokage was a very intimidating old man.

"No, it's not your fault. I'm sorry I snapped at you. It's just that this 'Whirlpool' crap has to come to an end. We need someone to unite Konoha if there is going to be any hope for the future. I believe you are the only one capable of such a feat. You are both greatly respected among Konoha's shinobi and greatly feared among its enemies, you have created some of the most powerful jutsu the world has ever seen and you are charismatic enough to win over just about anyone. So, do you accept the position?" The Hokage asked

Minato smirked "When do I get started?"

The Hokage chuckled "If everything goes according to plan, you'd be officially sworn in about a year from now."

(End Flashback)

He didn't even have time to go home and tell Kushina the good news. Apparently the Hokage had already sent out a notice to the rest of his team to meet him and he had less then five minutes to grab his things and prepare himself for the mission before he had to meet his team even though his house was at least 30 minutes away. _And Kakashi still had the balls to chew me out for being 32 seconds late…little bastard. _ It wasn't like his 32 seconds even mattered when Obito was almost an hour late. _Slightly littler but just as bastardy, bastard, if it ever comes down to either Kakashi or Obito, I'm picking Rin._

The plan was relatively simple. Well, it was simple for him at least. For a normal person the plan would have been impossible. Hell for a normal shinobi the plan would be impossible but fortunately, he was neither a normal man nor a normal shinobi. He was Minato Namikaze, Konoha's Yellow Flash and future Hokage. Minato's job was to offer re-enforcement to a small group of leaf ninja who were currently engaged in a losing battle with a good size brigade of rock ninja. According to their intelligence, this would be the same brigade of ninja that blew up the levies in the Whirlpool village about a year earlier, causing a catastrophic flood, destroying the Whirlpool village, taking thousands of innocent lives, starting a world war, and causing Minato's fiancé a hell of a lot of anguish. Minato had some pretty big issues with these people to say the least.

There was no doubt in his mind that he could and would take out most if not all of these men, but what bothered him was how the rest of his team would fair out. It was their mission that was the most important. Their mission was to blow up a bridge that allows the brigade access to re-enforcements and supplies. He had the utmost faith in Kakashi's ability to get the mission done, but, the mission was also a test to see if Kakashi was able to work with and protect his teammates. Kakashi's willingness to work with and protect his team was a deciding factor in his fate as a ninja. Although tried his best to get this message across to his team by explaining Kakashi's past to Obito, telling Kakashi to give Obito a break and even giving them a little "Teamwork is the most important thing for ninja" speech, it was becoming more and more apparent that it would still probably take something very big to break Kakashi of his "there is nothing but the mission" mentality. Minato hoped that he was wrong because if Kakashi failed to get his act together regarding teamwork, the hokage would place Rin and Obito on another team and Kakashi would be transferred to Danzo's ROOT ANBU program where he would serve for the duration of his ninja career or at least until Minato had enough power to cancel it. Minato didn't have time to continue his thoughts, nor did he particularly want to. He was rapidly approaching the battle site where four of his fellow leaf ninja were either injured or suffering from chakra exhaustion and trying to hold off more than 50 rock ninja. Ironically, even though he was about to engage in a battle where he was outnumbered fifty to one, he couldn't help but worry more about his team then his own safety. _Ah well, I guess I just have to have faith that things would turn out alright._

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Meanwhile, Kietaro was sniffing around the border of fire and rock country looking for that damn rock that Kyuubi-sama mentioned. It was proving to be a quite a bit more of a pain in the ass then he first expected. First of all, although he knew that the rock was located somewhere on the border of rock and fire country he had no idea exactly where, so he basically went to the coast and started searching from there on. Second and even more frustrating, the borders seemed to be littered with humans. It seems that the human's are at war for one reason or another. _**Phst Humans, always willing to kill each other for the stupidest of reasons.**_ Fortunately, as a wind fox Kietaro was able to basically turn into air; thus making it impossible for any human to see or sense him. However this technique did take a lot of energy to keep up and he didn't think that he would be able to make it if he had to walk the entire border. _**Maybe I should go to the grass border while I still have the energy there seems to be the most humans over there so I absolutely have to keep up this technique there.**_ Kietaro sighed and bounded off toward the grass country border.

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Kushina walked into the Hokage tower leaning heavily on her cane. She was currently wearing her work cloths or her "generic Konoha jounin ninja uniform," which consisted of a long sleaved black shirt, a pair of black paints and her dark green jounin vest that she was zipped up to her waist. Although she could barely walk, Sarutobi had chosen this time to give her a cover assignment. A cover assignment is a fake mission that is given to ANBU members in order to have them keep their anonymity. It's usually something that requires little physical effort or danger such as academy instructor or code breaker so they can stay in top physical condition when it is time for them to go on real missions. Kushina limped past the other ANBU and waved to the secretary as she wobbled into the Hokages office. When she walked through the door she stopped and looked around. Sarutobi was sitting at his desk as always, flanked by two ANBU members at his side but standing by the left wall were three kids. The first one was a girl with purple hair pinned up behind her head and her "headband" around her forehead; she was wearing a black t-shirt and a tan skirt in which she wore fishnet stockings underneath. She was currently smirking at Kushina with a sadistic glint in her eyes. The second one was a boy with jet black hair cut in what is known as a "bowl cut;" he had on an emerald green jumpsuit and orange legwarmers and wore his "headband" around his waist like a belt. Despite his odd taste in clothing, the thing that stood out the most about him was his incredibly think eyebrows. He was currently giving her an over the top smile. The third one was also a boy with black hair but his was more of a dull blue-black color; he wore his "headband" around his head so that the fabric covered all of his head and there was a little tuft of hair peaking out near the center of his forehead making it look as if he just got out of bed and wrapped it around his head without brushing his hair first. He was wearing a black tee shirt and a pair of green cargo paints. To say the boy was sickly looking would be the greatest understatement of the millennium; the boy looked like he was going to fall down dead at any moment. His skin was a sickly pale and he had bags under his eyes that made it seem like he hadn't slept in years. Kushina spared them a glance and turned to Sarutobi. "Yo." She said nonchalantly "What to you got for me?"

Anko's smirk was quickly turning into a grin. This woman had to be seriously strong to be able to talk to the Hokage so casually. Well either seriously strong or seriously crazy either way it meant that she'd get along really well with this woman.

For his part, the Hokage didn't seem too bothered by her apparent disrespect; he just smiled gestured toward a chair and replied "Ah Kushina you're right on time. Please have a seat." Kushina shrugged and sat down. The Hokage smiled at her and continued. "Well I'd like to introduce you to Mitarashi Anko, Gekkou Hayate, and Maito Gai." He said pointing to each of them respectively. "They are the top young shinobi in their fields. Gai had the best grades in taijutsu in his academy class and has since gone on to master several more advanced forms of taijutsu. Hayate is already well on his way to mastering _Crescent Leaf Dance_, Konoha's most advanced sword techniques. Anko was an apprentence to Orochimaru before his…departure and is skilled in ninjutsu especially those involving the summoning of snakes."

Kushina stared at him blankly. "And I should care why?" Kushina asked. She honestly didn't give a crap about these kids; she just wanted to get her cover assignment go home and go back to bed.

"Well you should care because you are going to be their sensei" Sarutobi replied

Kushina looked over at her new team. The girl was still standing there smirking at her, the boy with the eyebrows was now smiling at her and giving her a "thumbs up" and the sick boy coughed a couple times. _This doesn't make sense heading a team of genin is a stressful and dangerous job. This can't be a cover assignment. It seems more like a ... _Kushina's eyes narrowed as she finished that thought _demotion. _ Kushina turned to Sarutobi and sneered. "Oh fuck you in the neck Sarutobi."

At this declaration the female member of Kushina's new team burst out in laughter while the boy with the eyebrows dropped his "thumbs up" and stared at her in shock and horror and the sickly boy broke out into a coughing fit. The Hokage sighed. He was expecting this reaction or at least a reaction quite similar to this but the man he originally picked for this job was recently killed in battle with the rock and Kushina was the best replacement. "I know this is disappointing situation but there is no need to get testy." The Hokage responded

"If you had _testis_ you would call it was it is, a demotion." Kushina snapped back

At this point the girl was rolling on the floor with laughter, the sickly boy was looking like he was going to have to be resuscitated if he didn't stop coughing and the boy with the eyebrows found it time for him to stick up for the Hokage. "Now listen here" he declared "there is no reason for you to be talking about Hokage-sama in such a vile and unyouthful manner."

Kushina turned to the boy and leaned in close so their faces were just inches apart. "Do you want to _die_ eyebrows?" she asked, waves of killing intent coming off of her. The boy just shook his head nervously "then shut up and let the grown ups talk." With that the boy returned to his post between his laughing and coughing teammates. "I passed that damn ANBU exam two days ago and you have the balls to demote me _now_." She barked at the Hokage

Sarutobi turned to the three young shinobi and ordered them to leave the room and wait outside. Once they left, he turned to Kushina and said "Look I know it sounds like a demotion but its not. While we were raiding one of Orochimaru's 'labs' we found a list of young shinobi that he would have liked to use for his 'experiments.' These three were on the top of that list. Although, Orochimaru has fled we need someone to watch after those three in case he or one of his associates tries to nab them. You are the only person that can take on Orochimaru other then Minato, Jiraiya, and myself. You won't get a mask but this is your first ANBU mission and a very important one at that."

Kushina huphed "Fine" and stomped out.

Kushina walked out of the Hokage's office turned too her new team and told them to follow her. She led them to the roof of the Hokage's tower and told them to sit down. She sat down and crossed her arms over her chest. "Okay so it looks like we are going to be stuck together for the next year or two. So why don't we get too know each other a little bit better. For starters I'll ask you some questions that have been on my mind since I first saw you three. Lets start with the girl." She said as she pointed at Anko. "Why to you keep staring at me smirking like some kind of psychopath?" Kushina asked

Before Anko could respond Hayate decided to answer for her. "It's (cough) because (cough) she _is_ a (cough) psychopath." He said

At that moment Anko threw a kuni that cut Hayate's cheek and leaned over towards Hayate and licked up the blood. "Hmm your blood is not very tasty" she told him, "it tastes like sickness and death. Are you going to _die _soon Hayate?"

"(cough) (cough) Not if I can help it. (cough)" Hayate responded seemingly unfazed by her little display.

"Well I guess that answers my question." Kushina said matter-of-factly. "Now it's your turn Corpsey Mccorpsesan." She said as she pointed at Hayate. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"What (cough) do you (cough) mean?" Hayate asked

Kushina sighed "Why do you keep coughing and look like your going to fall down dead any minute."

"Seasonal Allergies" Hayate responded

Kushina looked at Hayate exasperatedly "IT'S THE MIDDLE OF FEBRUARY!" she screamed at him

"So?" he asked in response.

Kushina pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed "Ok fine last question is for the green lantern" she began while pointing at Gai

"I AM NOT THE GREEN LANTERN I AM MATIO GAI, KONOHA'S BEAUTIFUL GREAN BEAST!" Gai yelled triumphantly

_I am not being paid enough for this. _Kushina thought. "Whatever kid…just…whatever" she sighed in frustration. _I can't even remember what I was going to ask him now. Oh yeah that's right. _"What the hell is with your eyebrows? It looks like two caterpillars died and stuck themselves on your face."

"They're all natural." Gai stated simply

"Ugh Okay that's all I can take for now. Just go and do… whatever it is that you three do and tomorrow meet at training ground 7 and prepare to spare off against one another." She said while she got up and poofed away leaving a cloud of smoke.

Gai dashed down the stairs and away from the tower at the speed of light and Anko summoned a giant snake at the foot of the tower which she slid down to the street below leaving Hayate alone on the roof of the Hokage tower. _One teammate's psychopathic, the other one's psychotic and our sensei is nuts enough to curse out the most powerful man in the village._ Hayate sat in silence for a couple minutes before he looked up at the sky and screamed at the top of his lungs while waving his arms. "WHY AM I STUCK WITH ALL THE CRAZIES?"

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Meanwhile on the borders of grass, rock and fire countries team Kakashi was running for their lives. Kakashi and Obito were able to double team their opponent and release Rin from the genjusu her captors put on her only to find themselves caught in his _Earth Release Rock Lodgment Destruction._ With the ceiling falling in on them running for their lives was all that there was left that they could do. Suddenly, a fist size rock hit Kakashi's blind spot where he lost his eye and knocked him over. As he was lying there he didn't notice a large rock that was heading towards him. Fortunately for him, Obito did see the large rock coming and in a rare moment of adrenaline fueled strength, picked Kakashi up and threw him about five feet, almost knocking him into Rin.

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Kietaro watched as the rock that he was looking for started to fall as the ground underneath him started to collapse. The only thing that was keeping from falling as well was his "fox to air" technique. _**Shit if that rock breaks Kyuubi-sama would have my balls. I have to keep that rock from hitting the ground.**_Thinking fast, Kietaro turned himself into a tornado and headed toward the rock he needed.

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Rin watched in horror as the large rock continued to fall towards Obito knowing that he wouldn't be able to get out of the way in time. Then out nowhere, a tornado formed and quickly sucked the rock into its mitts. Quickly Rin grabbed Kakashi and hid under a large boulder. For half a second Rin thought that everything was going to be okay but that all ended when Obito was ripped from the ground by the twister. Obito's body caught up with the rock in a couple seconds and his head smashed against the broadside of the rock spraying blood everywhere. Soon the tornado was gone taking Obito with it. Kakashi ran out of the cavern and Rin followed after him. Outside Rin saw that their opponent was pummeled to death by rocks being thrown by the tornado. _Good riddance _she thought.

Rin was silent for a moment as she thought about her now fallen friend. She quickly decided that the task was too painful and if she wanted to keep her head about her she would have to push those thoughts out of her head and continue on with the mission. "Kakashi do you have the explosive tags for the bridge?" she asked him

"How the hell can you thing about the bridge at a time like this? We need to find Obito." Kakashi yelled. He was really pissed off. How could Rin just want to continue on with the mission when Obito was in danger? "When you were captured by the rock ninja it was Obito that wanted to save you. I would have just left you for dead." Kakashi roared.

Hearing that really hurt Rin. She had always had a bit of a crush on Kakashi and she hoped that if something were to happen to her, he would drop his "there's nothing but the mission" attitude, come to her rescue and confess his love to her. Okay so it was a corny fantasy but it still hurt to find out that he wasn't the knight in shining armor that she wanted him to be. She also couldn't help but feel jealous of Obito for being the one to get Kakashi to drop his "there's nothing but the mission" attitude instead of her. "There's no reason to be hurtful Kakashi" she said meekly

"No reason to be hurtful? When you were in danger he convinced me to come and save you. Now that he is the one in danger you are trying to convince me to leave him for dead." Kakashi responded.

Rin grabbed Kakashi by the shirt and started screaming at him. "Kakashi did you see what happened? Not only was he sucked up by a tornado but he smashed his head on a rock. Didn't you see all the blood spatter? If he wasn't ripped apart by the tornado he would bleed to death by the time we got to him. Kakashi we are not leaving Obito for dead. Obito _is_ dead." Rin then let go, put her head in her hands and started to cry. "The only thing that we can do is continue the mission." She said in between sobs.

Kakashi sighed sadly and bowed his head. He should have known better then to let his emotion's get the better of him. Rin was probably just trying to stay busy so she wouldn't have to think of Obito. She was probably right of course, the chances of Obito still being alive after being sucked up by a tornado were probably a million to one but he still had a small feeling that Obito was still okay. "Yeah, I have the explosive tags. The bridge in question should be about a mile to the west." He said to her sadly. Rin blinked away most of her tears, nodded and gave him a small, sad smile of thanks in response.

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Kietaro ended his tornado technique about a mile southwest in a vacant field with no humans in sight. When the rock he needed fell, he grabbed it out of the air with one of his tails and notice that there was something almost plastered against it. Kietaro took a closer look at the rock and saw that it was a boy about 12 years of age. The boy was unconscious and probably didn't see him but this left Kietaro with what to do with the boy. _Oh crap I wasn't supposed to kill anybody on this mission. _Kietaro decided to leave the boy against a tree on the outskirts of the field and head back to the den.

Obito slowly opened his eyes and saw a gigantic, three-tailed, white fox run away and disappear from sight. In Obito's current state, the sight of the fox didn't even faze him. Obito stood up shakily and tried to get his bearings. _Where the hell am I? What the hell am I doing here? Why does my head hurt so badly?_ Obito reached behind him and touched the spot where his head hurt most hissing when he realized that touching it caused even more pain. He withdrew his hand from his head and looked at it. It was covered in blood. _Oh no that's not good. _Obito went through his pack and grabbed a blood clotting tablet and popped it in his mouth. _There we go I'm sure Rin would heal that up in no time. Oh that's right we were supposed to have a mission today. I've got to go meet sensei and my team. I hope that I'm not too late. _He thought as he started wondering off towards the north.

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Kakashi was sitting on a rock near the groups meeting point slightly south of the bridge that they blew up. Meeting no other resistance on their way, Rin and Kakashi managed to complete their mission in less then an hour. Rin just finished explaining what happened to Obito and asked to be alone for a little while. His sensei came and sat on the rock beside him.

"How are you holding up?" Minato asked

"I'm okay" Kakashi responded. The two sat in silence for a couple minutes until Kakashi decided to ask "How is Rin doing."

Minato sighed "I think she's pretty upset. She blames herself for Obito's death."

"It's not her fault." Kakashi responded

Minato nodded "I know but sometimes-"

"It's mine." Kakashi said, interrupting his teacher.

"What? No it isn't." Minato said

"Yes it is. If I went with Obito to find Rin right off the bat we could have avoided that whole mess and furthermore the only reason Obito was in the path of the tornado in the first place was in order to save me. I should have been the one who died." Kakashi stated morosely.

"Don't talk like that Kakashi. Obito did what he did to because he cared about you as a teammate and a friend. He gave his life so yours could continue on. Please, don't devalue that sacrifice by blaming yourself for his death." Mitato told Kakashi

"Your right sensei it's just that I-" Kakashi started but was interrupted by a rustling in the bushes.

Minato and Kakashi both got into a defensive stance and looked intently at the bushes in questions. The rustling got louder and a very dazed Obito walked out from behind the bushes. Obito looked like a zombie. His skin was deathly pale, his shirt was covered in blood, and his eyes stared vacantly at the two men in front of him. Suddenly Obito collapsed to the ground. Minato turned to Kakashi and told him to get Rin. Then he rushed to Obito's side, sunk to his knees and held his student in his arms.

"Am I late Minato-sensei?" Obito asked weakly

"No Obito you're just on time." Minato responded reassuringly

Just then Kakashi came running over with Rin in tow. Minato propped Obito up a little higher so Rin could inspect the wound on the back of his head. Rin's hand glowed green and she put them against Obito's wound. "I managed to clean and heal most of the wound but he lost too much blood and needs to get to a hospital right away."

Minato put Obito on his back so the boy was riding "piggy back" and turned toward Konoha. "Then we're heading back at top speed." Minato stated.

Obito looked over his shoulder at Kakaski and said "Hey Kakaski, do you have something in your eye?"

Kakaski wiped a solitary tear from his cheek and said "Yeah Obito, ...I have something in my eye."


	5. Rivalries and Pregancies

Kushina was standing in the center of Konoha's Whirlpool district staring at the Whirlpool Memorial. The memorial consisted three blocks each of which had over a thousand names carved into them. The blocks were arranged to form a semi-circle around a large statue of a wave with a plaque that said "In memoriam of those who died in the Whirlpool tragedy." Kushina stared at the names on the blocks and pondered her current state. A little less than a year has passed since the end of the Rock-Leaf War which ended faster then anyone had ever thought thanks in part, to Minato taking out an entire brigade of Rock ninja on his own while the rest of his team blew up the bridge that allowed them to access supplies. Kushina and Minato got married that April under the sakura trees near Konoha's main gate. The Hokage allowed them a brief, three day honeymoon before they were once again swept up in missions, training and in Minato's case being groomed for the title of Hokage. Minato was officially instated as Hokage about a month ago but they were still in somewhat of a "transitional stage" with Sarutobi supervising him some of the time, but that stage was ending and soon Minato would take on the duties of Hokage full time. _This is the worst time for this to happen. Shit how am I going to tell Minato? I wish you were here Boushi. You would know exactly what to do. _Kushina thought to herself.

Just then a green blur whooshed pasted her and skidded to a halt almost hitting the memorial. The dust kick up from the sudden stop cleared revealing a smiling Maito Gai. He looked exactly the same as before except the fact that he was wearing a Chunin vest. All three of her students past the Chunin exams, and Anko was selected to be a special Jounin by the Department of Interrogations and Intelligence. Hayate is currently being looked at for becoming a special Jounin as well. All three of her students had grown a lot under her care and protection and although she didn't initially want this mission, she warmed up to her three apprentices quickly and she was going to miss them now that it was declared that they could take care of themselves now that her mission was over. All in all, team Kushina or "team crazy" as was dubbed by most of Konoha, turned out pretty well. Kushina was brought out of her current musings by Gai's voice.

"Ah Kushina-sensei, how are you this lovely morning." Gai bellowed.

"Oh I'm alright Gai." Kushina responded

"Alright? Why only alright when you can be so many more wonderful things other then just alright?" Gai asked

Kushina sighed and shook her head. Instead of explaining her all of reasons for not being stupendous or whatever emotion Gai wanted her to have, she asked. "What are you doing here Gai? I've never seen you around these parts before."

"Oh! Well I was doing my mourning laps around Konoha and I decided why not take a different route then what I am used to. So I followed the other path that curves around Konoha and it led me here." Gai answered

"Oh, well that makes sense I suppose" Kushina responded as she continued to stare at one of the memorial's blocks.

"What is this place Kushina-sensei?" Gai asked

"Well Gai, this is the Whirlpool Memorial. It was placed here in memory of all the people who died during the destruction of the Whirlpool Village two years ago." Kushina responded

"Oh, well I can understand why you are only feeling alright now. This is not the kind of place where it is appropriate to feel more then alright." Gai said

Kushina chuckled at this for some reason. "Yes I guess you're right Gai."

"Kushina-sensei may I ask you who it is you are mourning this morning." Gai asked

Kushina laughed "Well I wouldn't exactly call it mourning. It's more like I'm asking her for guidance but I'm currently looking at that name over there." she said while pointing to one of the names on the block she was standing in front of. "Boushi Myounichi"

"Was she a close friend of yours?" Gai asked

"Well I guess you could say that, but I think it would be better to call us rivals." Kushina said

"Why would you ask her for guidance then? Aren't rivals supposed to be like enemies?" Gai asked

"Not necessarily" Kushina replied "It might not have seemed like it sometimes, but Boushi was like a sister to me. The rivalry was just a way for the both of us to become stronger." Kushina said

This got Gai's attention. "How did it help you two get stronger?" He asked.

"It was the competition. We were both constantly working hard trying to out due each other. It helped motivate us. Hell, I think that more then half of my techniques are thanks to me trying to show up Boushi" Kushina responded

"How did you try to out due each other?" Gai asked

"You know, stuff like who could run around the village the most times, who has the cooler technique, who can beat the largest amount of enemies, hehe once we actually had a spur of the moment rock paper scissors competition." Kushina replied

"You know what? I think I would like one of these rivalries." Gai said poignantly "YES NOW I WILL FIND A WORTHY RIVAL AND TOGETHER WE WILL FAN OUR FLAMES OF YOUTH! I WILL FIND AN ETERNAL RIVAL BY THE END OF TODAY OR I'D RUN 5000 LAPS AROUND KONOHA ON MY HANDS!"

"Well that's not exactly how it works Ga-" she started but Gai had already sped away.

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Meanwhile Minato and Kakashi were catching up at Minato's favorite new restaurant Ichiraku's ramen stand. Suddenly, Kakashi's whole body shuddered. Minato looked down at his former student. "Are you ok Kakashi?" he asked

"I had this weird cold shiver go through my very soul. And now I can't help but feel an overwhelming sense of dread." Kakashi replied

Minato sniffed at his bowel for a second. "Do you think it's the ramen?"

Kakashi looked at his former sensei exasperatedly. "No Minato-sensei I don't think it's the ramen."

Minato smiled at Kakashi. "Oh good" he said as he continued to scarf down his ramen at an exceedingly fast pace.

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Meanwhile, Hayate was currently lounging against the bark of a tree. His best friend Genma was sitting up in one of the branches leaning against the bark with one of his legs hang off the sides. Genma had light brown hair that he wore in the same fashion as Hayate. He was wearing a pair of black cargo pants, a long-sleeved black shirt and his chunin vest. He was chewing on one of his senborn as was his habit. They were discussing the favorite topic of all 13 year old boys, girls.

"What about Anko?" Genma asked

"No way (cough)" Hayate replied.

"Why not? Think of all the kinky stuff she would do to you." Genma said with a smile

"Hey (cough) if you're in to that kind of shit (cough) go for it." Hayate responded

Suddenly, a green blur whizzed by and soon Gai was standing right in front of the two. "HAYATE MY YOUTHFUL TEAMMATE I WAS WONDERING IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO-"

"No" Hayate cut him off.

"but-" Gai tried to elaborate dejectedly

"No" Hayate cut him off again

"But you don't even know what I was going to ask" Gai said in one breath to keep Hayate from interrupting

"I know (cough) (cough) that whatever it is (cough) I don't want any part of it." Hayate responded

Gai looked a bit crestfallen for a second but soon bounced back and bellowed "THEN I SHALL FIND SOMEBODY ELSE! GOOD DAY HAYATE!"

After Gai ran off, Genma looked down at his friend and asked "What about Yuugao?"

"(cough) (cough) Oh yeah, I'd totally fuck Yuugao." Hayate responded

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Anko was currently sitting at her favorite Dango stand talking to her new colleague Morino Ibiki. They were both selected to become special Jounin's for the Department of Interrogations and Intelligence and since they were going to be working together from now on, there supervisor told them to go out an get to know each other. "So how did you get all those scars?" Anko asked

"I was tortured" Ibiki responded succinctly.

"Oh?" Anko said with her eyebrows raised. "How?"

"What?" Ibiki responded

"How did they do it? What methods did they use? Please feel free to let out all the gory details." Anko said.

"You're a sadist." Ibiki stated simply "I like that in a woman." He finished with a smile.

Before, Anko was able to say anything in response a green blur speed towards them and Gai appeared giving the two his "nice guy" pose. "ANKO MY ODD BUT YOUTHFUL TEAMMATE, I HAVE A MAGNIFICANTLY YOUTHFUL PROPOSITION FOR YOU!" Gai bellowed

_Is Gai asking me out?_ Anko thought as she looked at Gai in a mixture of shock and disgust.

"ANKO I WAS WONDERING IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE MY-" Gai started as he prepared to give his "nice guy" pose again.

"Finish that sentence and you lose a testicle." Anko cut him off.

Gai looked dejected and kind of confused for a second but quickly recovered. He smiled at his former teammate and said "ALRIGHTY THEN, GOOD DAY ANKO" and sped off.

Anko turned back to Ibiki and grinned sadistically. "So you were going to tell me about how you were tortured." She said

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Gai was aimlessly walking down a semi-crowed street faraway from Anko and her threats of castration. He wasn't really paying attention to where he was going and a bunch of people swerved out of his way to avoid being bumped into, but Gai was too lost in thoughts to notice. _Hmm it seems that both of my teammates are too intimidated by my obvious prowess as a ninja to even consider becoming my rival. How am I going to find a worthy rival now?_ Gai was really in a bind. He didn't really know any young ninja other then his teammates. Back at the academy people found his flamboyant attitude annoying and he really didn't make any friends. _What about that Uchiha kid that was always nice to me when all the other kids made fun of me. What was his name again? Oh right, Obito. He did well on the Chunin exam and now that he has the Sharingan he has become a lot stronger but I still don't think he's a worthy rival. _

Just then he saw his sensei's husband leaning against one of the buildings. He was going to say hello and congratulate him on becoming Hokage but he saw that the man was talking to a boy about the same age as him and didn't want to interrupt. As he walked away he said out loud to himself "I wonder who that boy talking to Minato-sama was?" A passing villager heard this question and replied "Oh that is the young genius Hatake Kakashi. He is the best young ninja in Konoha. He made Jounin at age 12 you know." Gai grinned and thanked the villager. _Hmm genius huh? Yes, he would make a very worthy rival. He we be my rival and I would show the world that a genius of hard work can always out do a regular genius!_

He ran back towards the building he saw the two talking just to find that they weren't there. He turned and asked another random villager if they saw where Kakashi went and was told that he ran off toward the training grounds. Gai thanked the man and ran off in the same direction.

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Kakashi was sitting on the middle log in the middle of training ground 7. He looked pretty much the same as he did a year ago except for the long horizontal scar across his left eye. Minato bought him a glass eye to replace the one he had lost in battle with the sound. At first he refused it stating that he didn't want to bother with something as superficial as his appearance. It wasn't until Minato pointed out that leaving his eye the way it was would show his enemies his biggest potential weakness thus giving them a better vantage for attack that he decided to get the glass eye.

Obito still doesn't remember everything that happened that night. When he finally woke up after surgery he asked Kakashi where he got "that bad ass scar." When Rin tearfully explained what happen and apologized profusely for assuming he was dead and leaving him behind to continue the mission, Obito told her not to worry and that it was a good thing that they didn't go chasing after him because "the giant white fox might have eaten you if he saw you." To this very day, Obito insists that he saw a three tailed, white, fox that was about the size of a small mountain running away from him after he woke up. Although, right now Kakashi had better things to do then ponder his teammate's hallucinations, like finish this damn book that Minato gave him.

He was reading a book written by Minato's sensei, Jiraiya. Minato really seemed to have liked the book but it didn't sell very well in stores, so Minato bought a copy for Kakashi hoping to get him into the book. So far, it wasn't working. Jiraiya was a pretty good writer but the story was missing a certain _something_ that could grab the reader's attention. Otherwise the book was very "blah." Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye he saw a green blur headed right towards him. Before he could blink, a boy wearing emerald green spandex jumpsuit, bright orange legwarmers and a Chunin vest was standing right in front of him. The boy's fashion sense was not helped much by his funny looking bowel cut and extremely thick eyebrows.

"GOOD DAY I AM MATIO GIA, KONOHA'S BEAUTIFUL GREEN BEAST!" the boy declared spiritedly

Kakashi slowly closed his book, closed his other hand so that only the middle and pointer fingers were sticking up, and brought that hand up to his face. He then closed his eyes and said "Kai."

He slowly opened his eyes and when he saw Gai still standing there he quickly closed them again and went "Kai, Kai, Kai." Kakashi opened his eyes again and saw a very perplexed Gai.

"Uh… what are you doing?" Gai asked

"You're... not a genjutsu are you?" Kakashi responded

Gai laughed at this. "NO KAKASHI, I AM NO ILLUSION BUT THE REAL DEAL! I AM MATIO GAI KONOHA'S BEAUTIFUL GREEN BEAST!"

"Uh… okay what do you want from me?" Kakashi asked

"I, MATIO GAI, WOULD LIKE YOU, HATAKE KAKASHI, TO BE MY ETERNAL RIVAL!" Gai responded

"Uh…okay" Kakashi replied

"YOU WILL?" Gai asked

"If that would make you go away then yes." Kakashi answered

"EXCELLENT!" Gai said before running off, screaming something about "the flames of youth."

Kakashi shuddered again and said to himself "Why do I have a feeling like I am not going to like what I just got myself into?"

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Meanwhile, Minato was helping his wife pack up their stuff from their old house. One of the perks of Minato's new job was that they got to move in to the Hokage's manor. Located right next to the Hokage's tower, the manor boasts almost 100 different rooms, including a large formal dining room, a lavish master bedroom, a restaurant sized kitchen and an indoor hot spring. It also has an army of maids, chiefs and various other waitstaff. He was excited to get to live in such a place seeing that he lived in near poverty for most of his life. He also thought that Kushina would be excited too because she would be living in conditions that were closer to those which she had grown up in. However, Kushina had grown quiet and more distant over the last week. At first he shrugged it off seeing as she had been sick lately. She has been throwing up every morning for the past couple of weeks. He managed to convince her to go and see Tsunade about a week ago but she is still sick. Whenever, he asked what Tsunade said or why Tsunate was unable to cure her she just told him that everything was going to be fine.

Trying to fill the now awkwardly silent room with small talk Minato said "I think I'm going to teach Kakashi my _Flying Thunder God Jutsu_. He did so well learning _Rasengan_ that I think he can do this too."

"I don't think that is such a good idea." Kushina responded "_Flying Thunder God Jutsu _is you're most noteworthy original technique. Hell, it's your namesake. Kakashi should learn more of his father's jutsus in order to make a name for himself not yours."

"Wait. What?" Minato sputtered. Kushina had never had any problem with him teaching his techniques to others before.

"Don't you think that it would be a good idea to keep some of your jutsu a secret so you can pass them on to your children?" Kushina replied as she taped up a box and began to move it towards all the others in the "packed" section of their apartment.

Minato paused for a moment. What Kushina said did make a lot of sense but Kushina wanted to wait at least a couple years before they had kids and Minato didn't think that far in advance. It was probably a good idea though; Minato's parents were farmers and didn't have any clan jutsu to pass down to him, which was a great disadvantage. That was one of the reasons that Minato worked so hard at making his own jutsus, so he could have jutsus that only he knew just like his peers. He never thought that by teaching his jutsus to other people that he would put his children in the same situation. It kind of made him feel bad about teaching Jiraiya and Kakashi the _Rasengan_. Speaking of which, why hadn't Kushina said anything about this when he was teaching Kakashi the _Rasengan_? In fact she hasn't really mentioned anything about children other then her unwillingness to have them until now.

"Kushina, where is this coming from?" Minato asked. He was becoming worried about his wife. She has been acting strange for a while now. She's been having inexplicable cravings for ramen, (which he didn't really mind seeing that it was his favorite food, but it was still out of character for his health conscious wife) she has been having strange mood swings in which she would be fine one minute and crying the next, she always seems tired, and she is constantly running to the bathroom. All this in addition to the nausea and vomiting is what led Minato to insist his wife go see Tsunade. Even though his wife insists that she is fine, he can't help but worry about her.

Kushina put down the box she was holding and sighed. "Minato, I'm pregnant" she said softly.

"Pregnant?" he thought out loud. That was not the answer that Minato was expecting. All the color had drained out of Minato's face. He was finding it hard to breath and was feeling lightheaded. Blackness was closing in on his vision and suddenly…

THUNK

Minato just fainted. Kushina stared down at her husband. He was a fairly large man, standing at 6'1 and probably weighing almost 200 pound in pure muscle. There was no way Kushina was going to be able to move him. _Way to go Kushina. You should have told him to sit down or something instead of just blurting it out like that. Now what are you going to do? _Just then there was a knock at the door.

Kushina ran to answer it and saw Jiraiya standing in the doorway. Jiraiya looked as if he was about to say something but Kushina stopped him. "Good thing you're here I need your help." She said as she pulled him into the apartment then dragged him into the living room where Minato was lying.

"Wha? What the hell happened?" Jiraiya asked

"He fainted. Come on we have to move him couch. I'll take his legs and you get his head." Kushina said successfully dodging the question.

After Jiraiya and Kushina were able to put Minato on the couch, Jiraiya crossed his arms and said. "Would you care to tell me what's going on here?"

Just then Minato groaned and sat up rubbing his head. After taking a couple seconds to get his bearings his eyes widened and he shouted. "YOU'RE PREGNANT?"

"Pregnant?" Jiraiya thought out loud. That was not what Jiraiya was expecting. All the color had drained out of Jiraiya's face. He was finding it hard to breath and was feeling lightheaded. Blackness was closing in on his vision and suddenly…

CRASH

Jiraiya fainted and landed on their "dining table" smashing it into pieces. Minato and Kushina just stared at the sight for a little while until Minato grabbed his hair and said. "Holy shit I'm going to be a father."

"Minato please calm down" Kushina implored

Minato now was pacing the room while fisting his hair and chanting "oh shit, oh shit, oh shit"

Kushina grabbed her husband, screamed "GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF MAN" and then smacked him in the face a couple of times.

"Thanks. I needed that." Minato said as he tried to catch his breath.

At that time Jiraiya groaned and sat up looking around. "Oh, don't worry about me. Noooo don't try to put me on the couch. I just probably have splinters in my ass that's all." He said sarcastically as he pulled pieces of wood out from under him.

Minato and Kushina just looked at him for a couple seconded before the resumed their previous conversation.

"How the hell could this happen?" Minato asked

"Well when a man and woman love each other very much…" Kushina started

"I know that but… how? I mean…when? I mean…" Minato sputtered

"I think it happened about a month ago when you were officially ordained as Hokage." she said

"Oh shit, I knew I should have brought a condom" Minato said as he grabbed his head

"You should have worn the one we found in the old man's desk." Kushina responded

"Oh come on that was a regular sized one. You know I need the big ones. I mean… yeah I could have wiggled it on but… it's like putting my dick in a turtleneck." Minato replied

"Bet that seems like a minor inconvenience now." Kushina said

"Psh I doubt it would have worked anyway. That thing was older then I am." Minato responded. He moved closer to his wife cupping her face with his hands "Anyway I think we can do this. I mean just because I would never force you to have kids doesn't mean that I don't want them. I think you would be a great mother. You're a sweet, caring and hardworking woman and any child would be lucky to call you mom."

Kushina blushed at Minato's complete 180 in attitude and gave her husband a chaste kiss on the lips. "Thank you and we really did have a lot fun consecrating you're new office." She said with a grin.

"Oh, yeah, I mean…we did it right there on the Hokage's official desk." He said with a smirk as he moved his hands so they were now around his wife's waste

Kushina giggled. "And you made me call you Hokage-sama" she added with a small smile.

Suddenly they heard a perverted giggle and looked towards Jiraiya only to find him scribbling furiously in a small notepad he was carrying. "Oh please, go on. Don't mind me at all." He said with a lecherous grin.

Kushina ran over and started to strangle the man screaming "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WANT TO TURN THE CONCEPTION OF OUR FIRST CHILD IN TO SOME SMUT THAT YOU CAN USE FOR YOUR OWN PERVERSE PLEASURE! YOU-"

"KUSHINA!" Minato screamed as he grabbed his wife, pulled her of Jiraiya and over to the couch. "You can't just go and strangle people. You now have the baby to worry about. You have to be more thoughtful and mature."

"Your right Minato I can't just lose my temper like that. I promise from now on I'll be more careful." She replied

"That's good. Thank you." He said softly to his wife before turning around, running over to Jiraiya where he proceeded to strangle the man. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WANT TO TURN THE CONCEPTION OF OUR FIRST CHILD IN TO SOME SMUT THAT YOU CAN USE FOR YOUR OWN PERVERSE PLEASURE! YOU PERVERTED SON OF A BITCH!"

"MINATO!" Kushina screamed and gave him a look.

"What? I'm not the one with a baby inside me." He said with is hands still firmly around Jiraiya's neck.

Kushina face-palmed "I'm feeling sorry for this child already" she said to nobody in particular.


End file.
